A former top political advisor for the federal Conservatives landed a lucrative job as an executive with a federal Crown corporation in the dying days of Stephen Harper’s government – hired by a board of directors dominated by Conservative party contributors, iPolitics has learned.

Colin Metcalfe, who worked for several years as advisor to the Conservatives’ political minister for British Columbia, was appointed in August to the newly-created position of vice-president corporate affairs for Ridley Terminals. The Crown corporation, which runs a coal-shipping terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, has faced challenges in recent years as the price of coal and the market for it have dropped.

While the president of a federal Crown corporation normally would select the company’s vice-president, sources say Metcalfe was instead appointed by Ridley Terminals’ board of directors.

Former president George Dorsey confirmed to iPolitics that Metcalfe was hired directly by the board of directors and that he had played no role in the decision. He said the position did not previously exist. Beyond that, Dorsey referred all questions to David Kirsop, a member of Ridley’s board of directors who took over as interim president and chief operating officer on Jan. 1.

Metcalfe, who returned phone calls placed for Kirsop and board chairman Byng Giraud, denies his new job is the result of political patronage and says he was cleared by Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson’s office to take the job with the Crown corporation.

David Zussman, a University of Ottawa Professor who is one of Canada’s top experts on public governance, says it is highly unusual for the board of a Crown corporation to hire anyone but the president.

“That would be an unusual practice to me. In terms of what I consider to be good corporate governance, I think that has the potential of undermining the CEO in terms of their authority to do things.”

Zussman said there is also supposed to be a certain distance between the board of directors and management of a Crown corporation because the board is supposed to provide oversight and governance.

Three of the five members of Ridley’s board have contributed to the Conservative party in the past.

The only two Ridley board members who don’t have a record of donating to the federal Conservatives are Kirsop and Gillian Kirk, a certified masseuse who handles industry and community liaison for an employment services company.

For years, Metcalfe has been known in political circles as the go-to guy for the Conservatives when it came to British Columbia and a formidable political adversary. A longtime political organizer for the party and director of communications for groups like the B.C Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps, Metcalfe went to work as director of regional affairs for the Conservatives’ regional minister for British Columbia when Stephen Harper’s Conservatives came to power in 2006.

In his LinkedIn profile, Metcalfe makes it clear he played an important role for the Harper government.

“Senior most non-elected political appointment reporting to the Minister Responsible for British Columbia Hon. James Moore, Minister of Industry,” he wrote. “Responsible for overseeing political operations in B.C on behalf of the Federal government.”

In an interview with iPolitics, Metcalfe said his duties were wide-ranging – from being the minister’s eyes and ears on the ground to dealing with stakeholders and various industries, and helping the government find or vet potential candidates for government appointments.

Last August, however, as the Conservatives were in a three-way race to form the next government, Moore was retiring and the Conservatives were running third in B.C., Metcalfe was appointed vice-president corporate affairs for Ridley Terminals.

A source familiar with Ridley Terminals, who spoke on condition they not be named, said the circumstances surrounding Metcalfe’s hiring by the board of directors were “highly unusual” and highly political.

“He’s a well known Conservative operative and he was making probably no more than $100,000 a year,” the source said, pointing out that Metcalfe went directly from Moore’s office to the Crown corporation. “They appointed him VP corporate affairs for a place that doesn’t need a VP corporate affairs.”

“This is wrong on so many levels.”

Metcalfe disagrees. He said he had been thinking about a change of job for some time but had to be so discreet about his job search that the only people he mentioned it to were a couple of executive search firms and Industry Minister James Moore. He also knew that he was going to be sidelined from part of the election campaign by ankle replacement surgery.

Metcalfe said he never applied to Ridley Terminals or sought out a job with the Crown corporation.

Metcalfe said he got a call out of the blue from Bob Standerwick, corporate secretary for Ridley “over the summer,” asking to meet with him about a job. He started in August, working from an office in Vancouver and traveling to Ridley’s offices 750 km away in Prince Rupert a few times a month.

Metcalfe insisted he does not know how Standerwick got his name or whether there was any formal competition for the job.

Moore said he first learned of Metcalfe’s job with Ridley when Metcalfe announced it to him, although he had known for some time that Metcalfe was thinking of leaving.

Standerwick has yet to respond to an interview request from iPolitics.

With the coal market depressed, and with little prospect of it turning around anytime soon, Metcalfe said he was hired because of the network of contacts he had built up over his decade working for the Conservative regional ministers.

“I’ve got a lot of contacts around the province and throughout the country on the resource side so I am able to provide advice and strategic advice on matters related to corporate affairs and where the organization may be going in the future.”

Metcalfe said he is working with the management of Ridley terminals on the Crown corporation’s future.

Metcalfe said his hiring, and Ridley’s decision not to renew Dorsey’s contract and find a new president, are part of Ridley’s transition and its plan to diversify its operations beyond shipping coal.

“At this point the board has decided to see where we could find a president that can bring the organization in a new direction.”